Heavy sentences demanded for 11 soldiers who killed 51 during Turkey’s coup attempt

ANKARA

Ankara prosecutors on Jan. 29 demanded 54 aggravated life sentences for 11 soldier suspects accused of joining the July 15, 2016 coup attempt by pounding police department buildings in the capital and killing 51 people.

The suspects, including six army pilots and five higher-ranking soldiers, are accused of coordinating the attack on the police special operations branch headquarters and the police department air bureau headquarters. 

They face 54 aggravated life sentences on charges of committing crimes against the constitution and deliberate killing of 45 special operations police officers, three civilian public employees, two civilians and an imam on the night of the coup attempt. 

In the case, which has around 100 plaintiffs, the suspects are also charged with “membership of an armed terror organization,” “harming public property,” “causing deliberate injury,” and “qualified robbery.” 

The suspects each face three aggravated life terms for engaging in the coup attempt, in addition to 51 aggravated life terms for the 51 victims killed in the bombardment. 

The demanded sentences are the heaviest sentences sought for suspects in probes related to the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to have orchestrated the coup attempt.